The design of the Research Support Core (RSC) is based on a "research support philosophy," which casts the statistician more as a co- investigator than as a detached consultant. Thus, although short-term consulting assistance will be available, the RSC's major thrust will be toward establishing long-term collaborations between nursing researchers and RSC consultants. The Core will bring together a team of four senior statisticians who have extensive experience in developing and implementing funded studies, as well as in consulting and teaching. By virtue of their experience in all phases of the research process, the RSC Statisticians are prepared to offer a more comprehensive array of support services than are usually provided by a statistical consulting unit. Assistance will be available from the earliest stages of problem formulation through final interpretation and publication of results, and the RSC's assistance in grant proposal development will be especially important to junior researchers. The RSC staff will also include a Data Manager/Programmer and Data Entry Clerks, who will be able to provide all the data processing and analysis services that nursing researchers are likely to require. In addition to its research support services, the Core will offer educational programs aimed particularly at junior faculty members and graduate students, on whom the future of nursing research rests. The educational programs will include: l) a Faculty Development Program, to be implemented as part of the broader program of the Research Development and Dissemination Core, which will involve nursing faculty and statisticians in reciprocal educational experiences; and 2) an Internship Program for nursing graduate students, which will offer experiences in research development and consulting as well as training in advanced statistical techniques and statistical computing.